Thursday, January 17, 2013

In Praise of the Braise

I prepared this recipe this morning live on Charlotte Today - Jan 17 with co host Romona Holloway - great fun, easy to do, and the video includes lots of helpful tips.

Recipe follows, but first a few ingredient notes - Buy great local pork from A Way of Life Farm a the Yorkmont Regional Farmers' Market on Saturdays in Charlotte.

Or this recipes also works well with chicken, stuffed or unstuffed - I love the local birds from New Town Farms - usually available on Saturdays at the Matthews Community Farmers' market - and from Windy Hill Farms at the Atherton Mills Market in Southend - open five days a week.

All of the dried spices in this recipe are available at the Savory Spice Shop in Southend - my favorite place for spices and seasonings. As for olive oil, I suggest extra virgin current harvest - take your pick from the selection at Pour Olive on East Blvd. Tell 'em Heidi sent you !Here is the link to the video from Charlotte Today - simply click here

Here we go...

Stuffed Braised Local Pork Chops

By Charlotte Culinary Expert Heidi Billotto

4 bone-in pork chops, cut thick enough to stuff, prepared with a
slit orlittle pocket cut through the
side of the chop -

Marinate the chops for severalhours,
turning it occasionally. Remove from refrigerator and bring to room temperature;
remove chops from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Strain the
remaining marinade and reserve.While the chops are marinating, prepare the stuffing. Chop
the garlic to a fine mince with some salt and pepper. Combine with remaining
stuffing ingredients until the mixture has the consistency of a paste. Fill the pocket you
cut in each chop with an equal amount of the stuffing mix. Season the outside
of each chop with coarse sea salt and coarse black pepper or Heidi’s hot pepper
blend ( available at the Savory Spice Shop in Southend).

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or stovetop to oven pan. When
the oil is hot and aromatic, sear the chops on both sides until nicely browned.
Remove the chops and deglaze the pan with the reserved marinade.

Return the chops to the deglazed pan and add enough of the broth
blend to come one-half of the way up the side of the meat. Cover the pot and
place it in a 325 oven for about one and a half hours, basting the chops at 20
minute intervals.

To serve, transfer the chops to a serving platter or
individual plates. Strain the liquid from the pot into a small saucepan and
simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Strain sauce of any fat. Serve over
soft polenta rice or mashed potatoes.

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About Me

For more than a dozen years, culinary expert Heidi Billotto has been writing about food and restaurants for several Charlotte-based magazines, newspapers and Web sites. Heidi writes extensive culinary spreads, health, travel and personal profile articles for Charlotte Living, a bimonthly four color magazine published in Charlotte, NC.
Heidi’s popular food and restaurant section is called Very Culinary and includes restaurant reviews, chef profiles and a column about wine and winemakers cleverly dubbed, WineKnow.
Between columns, Heidi teaches a regular schedule of weekly cooking classes both in her home and at Reid’s Fine Foods and conducts private in-home or office cooking classes for corporate team building and social gatherings. She has also parlayed her culinary talents to develop a small but successful catering business and she publishes a monthly email newsletter with info about her cooking classes, Charlotte restaurants, food happenings and more.
Heidi is married to Charlotte singer and musician, Tom Billotto. The two often work together providing “food and mood” at private parties and corporate events.